Supernatural's "Party on, Garth" and SQUEE Surprise!!!

THEN

Wow, I feel stupid. I never connected DJ Quall's awesome Garth with the "how are you still alive" hunter from "Weekend at Bobby's." Man, I love seeing Bobby, even in flashback.

NOW

This campfire thing reminds me a little of "Wendigo" even though they didn't do campfire ghost stories. (Coincidentally, That Haley Girl from "Wendigo" was on tonight's episode of Fringe!)

Anyone who saw the previews knows what's coming. Wasted Trevor sees/hears something in the woods. He runs off, and when his brother goes after him, he finds a gruesome scene. Nice touch with the down from his vest floating around.

Oh, yeah, Garth appears to Bell Biv Devoe's "Poison," which somehow fits him very well. He approaches two of the women from the campfire, who dis him until he throws his badge and gets amusingly sudden respect. I love when dorks rule! They tell Garth about the real Jenny Greentree. He salts and burns her: "You've been Garthed." Bell Biv Devoe come back, while Garth hits himself in the face with his jacket when he tosses it over his shoulder, and the small grave fire gets bigger and bigger. Love it!

Trevor's brother is getting drunk in the woods now. You don't have to have seen the preview to know something bad is going to happen. Do you think he has salt rounds in his shotgun? Oh, wait, I think that's a rifle. He's "hunting" his brother's killer, but he gets hunted.

Garth "hearts you more"--Number One (my oldest daughter) thinks he was talking to Becky. What do you think? Garth hears about Trevor's brother and is angry. "I Garthed her!"

Finally, we get to Sam and Dean. Dean's getting an update from the bitch Meg. Apparently, Cas is still catatonic or something close. Dean asks Sam how his custard is. Sam says it's getting better, but he feels guilty for passing on the crazy. Dean's phone interrupts him, and it's Garth. How did I know Dean wouldn't remember him right away?

Fed Dean and Fed Sam show up at the morgue, and Corporal Brown--James Brown, ha!--is there to pay respects to his cousin, but clearly doesn't know the victims were brothers. An exasperated Sam takes over, checking the files and doing quick research. Dean asks if he's allergic to a suit, but Garth just looks good in a uniform. Doesn't everyone?

Dean gets EMF when Garth hadn't, but the details point to monster chow rather than ghost. A witness says it was invisible, so Dean goes with invisible ghost werewolf. Sam finds Thighslapper Ale (beverage for douchebags), and the owner is the father to the dead brothers. Dean assures Sam that Garth grows on ya. (He does, Sam! Give him a chance!)

The manager of the brewery is the sister. The place is run by two guys, with a third partner recently dead. I'm going to quickly encapsulate the storyline here so I can get to the good stuff. Sam, Dean, and Garth trace clues and family intricacies to learn that:

Three partners in the business, two want to sell to a giant distributor, one doesn't, he committed suicide a couple of months ago. But he gave them a gift "that would show them I forgive them," a saki bottle from Japan containing an alcohol spirit that was programmed to go after the kids of the ousting partners. I don't know why it kills the wife/mother instead of the little girl who accidentally drank from her mother's screwdriver, but probably they had the girl witness the trauma instead of dying herself because they know my husband's rule about quitting shows that do harm to kids.

I love that Sam and Dean consult, what, a sushi chef? He reads the curse on the box (and Dean very nicely pays him for his time) and later helps Dean bless a samurai sword with spring water poured from a plastic bottle. Dirty, but it works! Garth, who's not as hapless as he seems, figures out that Ray's son is the company janitor. He also saves Sam and Dean by tazing Ray when he discovers Sam and Dean drunk in the office, watching security footage of the spirit being set free.

Garth goes to the company (drunk on mini bar bottles) and sees the spirit stalking the unrecognized son. Sam, who's been getting drunk while watching out for the older sister, has to take a cab to the company. Dean meets them there with the sword, but he's the only one sober enough to fight the thing, but too sober to see it. (Sam to Dean when they got drunk in the office: "Can you even get drunk anymore? It's kind of like drinking a vitamin." Another good line: Drunk Sam saying the spirit followed the kid to the place with all the thingies. Dean thought that was smart. I love drunk Dean!)

Garth gets drunk on one bottle of beer. "Party on Garth." He doesn't usually drink beer because it messes with his depth perception, especially when he skinny dips. LOL He gets the young daughter's story out of her with a sock puppet, Mr. Fizzles. He also figures out that Bobby's old flask set off the EMF meter.

And that's the stuff that's REALLY good. Garth thinks Bobby might be haunting them. Sam admits that after the beer disappeared, he used a talking board to try to contact Bobby. It didn't work, or he'd have told Dean. But during the battle, the spirit throws Garth through a wall (again) and Sam against a wall (knocking him out) and knocks the sword from Dean's hand. Dean's a bit desperate, with Sam knocked out, the kid useless, and the sword five feet away...until it slides across the floor, right into his hand.

Dean's convinced now. He thinks he's alone and begs Bobby to do something. God, Jenson does tortured well. Sam, however, still needs a haircut. I mean, Sam hears Dean, but nothing happens. Later, after they say goodbye to Garth (I love the hugs...and the music!), we have this huge buildup of anticipation as Sam confronts Dean about the Bobby thing. Dean tries to blow it off, calling it his imagination, but Sam pushes. Dean catalogs the sword, the beer, the page, the book. But Sam thinks regular people see people they've lost all the time, too. They're actually close to normal.

I'm dying here!

Dean says "who knows more about being a ghost than Bobby?" Of course Bobby would let them know. They leave the motel room...come on come on come on...the camera pans over...

BOBBBYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!

Dean goes back inside, and kills us by glancing around, landing his eyes on something, and saying "there you are." Bobby thinks he sees him, but Dean just came back for the flask.

"I'm right here, ya idjit!" A gray-looking, heartbroken Bobby ends with "Balls!"

GAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

But OMG, that preview! I can't believe we have to wait three more friggin' weeks!

I love being unspoiled. I don't know if there were hints in any of the interviews I avoided, but I had no clue he'd actually show up and prove right those of us who called "he chose to stay" from the last fadeout on "Death's Door."

As a classic episode, I liked this one. I like Garth (which means we'll get three episodes with him next season and then he'll die) and the new spirit and the down-and-dirty blessing ritual and even the way figuring out what was happening was kind of like an episode of Castle or something, with all the family intrigues and unseen connections.

But as a Bobby reveal, it was even better. I made some strangled screaming noises when it happened. I think my family was ready to perform CPR on me (or make me Cas's roommate).

After this next hiatus, we should get the last five episodes all in a row. Which is nice, but it makes me sad that it's almost over when it feels like it just started.

What did you think?

Supernatural Sound

"Gasoline" by The Living Daylights
"What Cha Gonna Do" by Classic
"Speaking In Tongues" by Eagles Of Death Metal
"Ramblin' Man" by Allman Brothers Band
"Back In Black" by AC/DC
"Highway To Hell" by AC/DC
"My Cheatin' Ways" by Kid Gloves Music

CUE MUSIC: [And you can take your anemic, alternative pop music and shove it up your ass. Dean plays bass thumping, pile driving Zeppelin, and he plays it loud.]

That’s the way series creator Erik Kripke noted the music intro for the pilot script of Supernatural. A small town Ohioan, and big time Led Zepplin fan, Erik fought to make Supernatural stand out on the soundtrack landscape. His beloved 70’s mullet rock was so important to him he nearly quit the show when they tried to steer him from metal to McLachlan. Fortunately, Kripke won and those eight songs quickly told viewers this show was going to be different. Now legions of new fans are downloading AC/DC, Creedence Clearwater Revival and Foreigner and I know I’m not the only one with Kansas’s Carry On My Wayward Son as a ringtone.



While Kripke is the most paramount influence over Supernatural’s sound, kudos also have to go to music supervisor Alex Patsavas. Patsavas has paired music with pictures for Roswell, The O.C., Gossip Girl, Chuck, Twilight (Yes, that Twilight) and Grey’s Anatomy. She combs through over 500 submissions a week for all the shows she works on and is considered a golden girl for her ability to discover new talent and shoot songs to the top of the charts. After Snow Patrol’s Chasing Cars played during Denny’s (our Jeffrey Dean Morgan) death scene on Grey’s it became #1 on I-Tunes download list the following day. Patsavas considers music to be a character and that certainly holds true for the Supernatural soundtrack.

Sadly, though the fans and Kripke would love to see official Supernatural soundtracks released, it doesn’t look to be possible due to steep costs. Led Zeppelin, in particular, is impossibly (read: obscenely) expensive to license, but I imagine they have to know how much this show has created a resurgence of interest in their songs. As an alternative Kripke has asked Warner Music to create an official Supernatural I-Tunes playlist, but that hasn’t happened either (even though you can download all the episodes). However, fans have created some pretty awesome I-Tunes I-Mix’s so you can download your own soundtrack that way. And if you want to see a broken down song episode guide check out Supernatural.TV.

I know I’ve gained a greater appreciation for classic rock because of this show and that’s one of Kripke’s greatest pleasures.

"One of the best pleasures I've had with this show is when I'm online checking out the blogs and there's this 14-year-old kid who says, 'What is this band, Foreigner and this song, Hot Blooded? I really liked it and I went out and bought the greatest hits of Foreigner' and I'm like, ah, I'm doing God's work! I'm introducing people to Foreigner, now if I can get people on board with Triumph! Spreading that sick obsession of mine has been very, very gratifying."

Did you love mullet rock before Supernatural? Got any Supernatural ringtones? What do you think Sammy listens to? And are you waiting for Carry on Wayward Son to make an appearance in season 4 like I am? This song has become a heartbreaking season ending hallmark--1.20 Salvation, 2.22 All Hell Breaks Loose, 3.16 No Rest for the Wicked—and I expect this season to be no different.